Hey everyone, I'm not exactly new here, I've been stalking these forums for a bit in preparation for making my full scale medieval 100% working crossbow ^.^ But I HAD to make an account to post a pretty nifty idea I had yesterday.Well, I basically I made a 1/3 scale crossbow as a sort of prototype for my big one next week. And yeah I used a 30cm metal ruler as the bow part (prod) !! It works beautifully. If anyone wants to make one, it's really easy and infact I made it in less than an hour while watching Criminal Minds last night.To make, I found a suitable piece of wood in the back yard to use as a stock. With the ruler, it's just a regular 20cm metal ruler which I drilled an extra hole on the other end. Then I (With the help of a drill) made a slit at the end of it to fit the metal ruler nice and tight. I then secured it with superglue. So then I used a rasp to make a rail for the bolt to run down and strung the bow nice and tight. After checking how far it could be cocked, I made a 90 degree cut for the string to rest on after being pulled back and drilled a hole down to the bottom of that to have a trigger mechanism. You dont need a trigger mechanism, you can just push the string up with your fingers, but triggers are always cool Here are some pictures:

You guys will probably think I'm silly, but its just something you can whip up if you're looking for a few laughs at school maybe. Be careful though, I broke 7 pens and made a guy bleed today (He told me to shoot him, I'm not sadistic..)

EDIT: Seems like the pictures arent coming up so I posted the link instead

lol well I've got to commend the desing and build. looks pretty good too.

But not sure that shooting people - even if they ask you to - is a good idea. As far as the pics go - you have to right click the image itself and select copy image location. Use that url instead of the page url itself. and then it works.

Using an automotive leaf spring is a possibility, but requires a lot of work to do right. A leaf spring is not "tillered" properly. It has to be ground careflully so that, like any bow, it bends progressively.This generates such heat that the spring must be re-tempered after grinding.

Using an automotive leaf spring is a possibility, but requires a lot of work to do right. A leaf spring is not "tillered" properly. It has to be ground careflully so that, like any bow, it bends progressively.This generates such heat that the spring must be re-tempered after grinding.

Who said it had to be ground, a hack saw would do the job with no heat build up.If you love buying saw blades that is

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Bikewer

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Re: 1 Hour Easy Metal CrossbowReply #8 - Dec 27th, 2011 at 8:47am

A hacksaw might let you taper the profile of the spring, but it still would not be tillered.If you look at historic steel prods, they are progressively tapered as to thickness just as a longbow would be.Tapered in profile would be better, but not optimum.

see, now we are getting into the serious stuff. I think the kind of crossbow this started out with is the kind of thing you mess around with in the back yard. It's like the bows that my lil' brother made out of a disposable Bic and a rubber band. He put a hole through both ends, strung the rubber band through, and used the ink cartridge as an arrow. It flew pretty straight for about 15-20 feet, and it had no problem punching through cardboard. They have now been banned at his school...

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